Reinforcing the basement with a natural stone wall

It starts with the demolition and removal of old door panels. We want to restore the original openings and therefore remove them. In doing so, we discover that the load-bearing basement wall is listless. Cracks and openings of up to 50mm wide indicate that the house has moved somewhat in the last decades or even centuries. At the moment everything is standing very solidly, but the structural engineer and the architect are of the opinion that the foundation needs to be reinforced.

The horizontal shift of the outer wall is visible to the naked eye. This shift cannot be reversed. However, further movement must be prevented. The carpenter is already considering how he will install a functioning door in this crooked hole.

The classic solution for stabilizing the wall in the Vallemaggia is also called Barbacàn . This is a massive natural stone wall used as support.

The cellar wall will be reinforced over a width of 2.5 metres up to the height of the cellar ceiling. Around 3.5 cubic metres of local gneiss will be used with mortar.

The work has begun and the wall is slowly growing in height.